patterson_boys_10603

Posted: 10/3/03

A DOG, A GUN & A DAD:
Patterson's advice on boys

LAVACA, Ark. (BP)–The No. 1 problem in America today is a war against boys and the establishment of laws to prevent men from hunting and owning guns, Paige Patterson told a group of 1,300 men and boys at an Arkansas church.

Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, was keynote speaker at a Sportsman's Safari sponsored by First Baptist Church of Lavaca, Ark.

Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, speaks at a Sportsman's Safari event at First Baptist Church of Lavaca, Ark., where he told 1,300 people the greatest problem in America today is a war against boys and the establishment of laws to prevent men from hunting and owning guns. (Matthew Miller/SWBTS Photo)

The goal of the event was “to get guys to see the things at church that they're normally looking for in the woods on Sunday,” said Pastor Grant Ethridge.

After an exhibition of “monster bucks,” archery equipment and firearms, the group heard from Patterson, an African big-game hunter.

Patterson talked about hunting plains game in Zimbabwe and displayed photos of his African trophies. But he said he actually came to tell the hunters about “America's No. 1 problem and what they can do about it.”

A war against boys, hunting and gun ownership has produced a generation of fathers disconnected from their sons, he said.

“Today, there is a war against boys,” Patterson declared. “You've got to make little girls out of your little boys.”

He charged that boys have been prohibited even from portraying superheroes on school playgrounds because the behavior is said by psychologists to illustrate aggressiveness. “Never mind that Batman and Superman were always on the side of right.”

But Patterson said he believes dads still can give boys what they need, and that when fathers provide for their sons the nation is strengthened.

Little boys, he said, need three things–a dog, a gun and a dad.

“Every little boy needs a dog,” Patterson said, “and not a little yip dog, but a big dog that he can be proud of.”

By learning to care for the dog and providing its food, grooming and veterinary needs, Patterson said, the boy will learn responsibility.

Similarly, the boy will learn responsibility and respect for the safety of others if he has a gun.

“Get him a gun,” Patterson urged. “Not a play gun, but a real gun. Play guns are the most dangerous guns in the world.”

He recalled that when he was teaching his son how to shoot his first rifle, he took him out on a West Texas ranch at dusk. “I put a can up on the fence, and he aimed. When he pulled that trigger, fire flew from the end of that gun and lit up the place, and he thought he'd been kicked by a mule.”

The event reinforced in his son the danger of using guns irresponsibly, he explained.

Patterson also said that every boy needs a father, for without a father there “is no image in the house they can relate to. He needs a daddy who doesn't just bring home the bacon, but who develops a relationship with him.”

A son follows after his father, no matter the kind of person the father may be, Patterson said. “No little boy needs a daddy or granddaddy who will take him to hell. He's going where you're going. … When you go to hell, look back over your shoulder; he'll follow you there.”

Patterson asked the men to prepare for the future. By coming to faith in Christ, he said, God would make each one a “real man” and guarantee him eternal life; then, their sons would follow their example.

The same theme was presented again at a second sportsman's banquet at First Baptist Church of Little Rock the following evening. More than 600 men and boys attended the church's second annual outreach.

The church's pastor is Patterson's son-in-law, Mark Howell.

Twenty-seven men made decisions for Christ at the Lavaca banquet. Another 36 made decisions at the Little Rock banquet.

Reported by Gregory Tomlin, Southwestern Seminary